Spinning mechanism



May 21, 1940.

o. c. WILSON 2,201,844

SPINNING MECHANISM Filed March 17, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Smaentor. OSCARC. WILSON attorney May 21, 1940. o. c. WILSON srmume MEcmLNIsM FiledMarch 17, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 E mm Ems l I l II a Imnentor Oscme .C.VV/Ls0N (Ittorneg y 1940- o. c. WILSON srnmme macmmxsm Filed larch 17,1939 4 Sheets-Sheet. 3

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luvcntor; 05 CAR C. W/LSQN attorney May 2 4 o. 0. WILSON SPINNINGMECIIANISM Filed March 17, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 ISnnentor:

056/9? C VV/Lwrv Patented May 21, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICESPINNING MECHANISM Oscar C. Wilson, Lexington, N. C., assignor ofone-half to Erlanger Cotton Mills Company,

Lexington, N. 0.,

This invention relates to an apparatus for making fancy yarns, commonlyknown as Himalaya yarns or flake filling. This type of yarn is irregularin its cross sectional area and is marked by variations in size atsuccessive intervals. When this yarn is Woven into a fabric anornamental appearance is produced by the size irregularities therein.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an apparatus,which will manufacture this type of fancy yarn in a more economical andfeasible manner, the primary consideration being to construct amechanism which will prove I flexible in its application to spinningmachinery. In the present invention the bottom rolls are driven at theirnormal respective speeds as the small diameter of the strand is beingformed. At this time, the front rolls revolve at the fastest rate, theintermediate rolls at the next fastest rate and the rear rolls at theslowest rate. This, of course, will produce the maximum draft betweenthe front and the intermediate rolls and the next greatest amount ofdraft between the intermediate rolls and the rear rolls. When anenlargement or slub is to be formed upon the yarn, the rear andintermediate rolls are accelerated to a speed that is greater than theirnormal rate which will decrease the draft between the front andintermediate rolls, thus producing an enlarged strand. A special ratchetarrangement is provided in combination with a toothed clutch to preventany back lash. One of the greatest objections in devices heretoforeprovided for this purpose is that a short period of time exists, whenthe speed is changed from high speed to normal speed, in which the backrolls will almost completely stop rotation until the slack between thesource of power and these rolls is taken up. Since the front rollscontinue to rotate while this slack is being removed, an excessive draftis placed in the strand adjacent the enlargement thus producing a weakplace.

In order to prevent this back lash, an assembly has been constructed,comprising a plurality of pawls which are adapted to engage, at times,the teeth in a ratchet. Due to the spacing of the pawls and of theteeth, only one of the pawls is allowed to effectively engage theratchet, thereby providing an arrangement which is capable ofincremental take-up.

It is a further object of this invention to provide an apparatus of theclass described controlled by a mercury switch and which has means forvarying thelength, the position-and the size a corporation of North1939, Serial No. 262,462

of a slub or enlarged portions on a strand of yarn.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connectionwiththe accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a plan view, withcertain portions thereof shown in section, of one end of a spinningframe showing the invention applied thereto;

Figure-2 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken along the line2-2 in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along. the line 33 inFigure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional view through the lower right-handportion of Figure 3;

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of the upper portion of Figure 3 butshowing the mercury switch rotated to a position where the circuit isclosed;

Figure 6 is longitudinal sectional view through the clutch arrangementtaken along the line 66 in Figure 1;

Figure 7 is an isometric view of the expanding ring which is adapted tooperate in the clutch arrangement shown in Figures 1 and 6;

Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional view taken along the line 8-8 inFigure 1;

Figure 9 is an enlarged view showing one form of short strand of fillinghaving enlarged slubs thereon at spaced intervals, which may bemanufactured with a spinning frame equipped with my apparatus.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the numeral l0 denotes anend support of a conventional spinning frame which has secured thereto abearing II in which is journaled a shaft l2, said shaft having securedon its outer end a drive gear I l which is driven from any suitablesource of power not shown. This shaft extends longitudinally of thespinning frame and has secured to its inner end, the front bottom rollof the spinning frame which is designated by the reference character I5.A suitable strand ofroving I6 is adapted to pass over this roll andbeneath a top roll ll which rests directly upon the front bottom roll.Also intermediate bottom roll it provided which has a top roll [9associated therewith. Likewise, rear bottom roll 20 and rear top roll 2|are provided. As the strand I6 passes first between rolls 20 and 2| andthence between intermediate rolls l8 and I9, and between front rolls l5and H, a draft occurs due to the fact that the speeds of the respectivesetsv of rolls, progressively increase. In other words, the back rollsrotatetheslowest, the intermediate rolls at a slightly faster rate andthe front rolls at a very much faster rate. It is desirable in themanufacture of yarns of this type to provide slubs lGa (Figure 9) atspaced intervals on strand It. In order to do this, it is necessary todecrease the draft between the front and the intermediate rolls, therebyproviding a thick place in the yarn where the slub or enlargement isformed. With this principle in mind, the following description will bedevoted to the improved mechanism for carrying out this function.

By referring to Figure 8, it is seen that the shaft 12 has a pinion 22secured there on which meshes with a larger gear 23. The gear 23 isrotatably mounted around hub 21, said hub having a flange 21a both ofwhich are rotatably mounted around stud 24. Stud 24 has one end thereofmounted in slot 28 of bracket 29 and this bracket has its lower endmounted around the bearing portion of the bracket it previouslydescribed. The gear 23 has a cavity 3| cut in one face thereof in whicha ratchet wheel 32 is mounted, said ratchet being keyed to hub 21;therefore, when the ratchet rotates, the hub will likewise rotate.

Due to the fact that it is necessary for the ratchet wheel 32 to rotateat a higher rate of speed than the gear 23 while the slub lfia is beingformed, it is necessary to rotatably mount this gear upon the flangedhub 27 and provide a pawl and ratchet connection between the gear andthe ratchet wheel 32. Therefore, suitable pawls 35 are pivoted withinthe cavity 3| as at 36. Each of these pawls has its pointed end normallypressed against the teeth of ratchet wheel 32 by means of a spring 31.During the slubbing operation, these pawls are so arranged that only onepawl is in engagement with a tooth at any time. If there are four pawlson gear Wheel 23, while one pawl is engaged another is spaced one fourththe distance of one tooth from the point of engagement, another isone-half the distance, and the fourth is three-fourths the distance of atooth from the point of engagement. This practical arrangement of pawlseliminates any possibility of lost motion occurring while changing fromslub to regular yarn. The prevention of this lost motion necessarilyimplies stronger and more ductile slubs because there is no back lash.

The hub 21 also has a gear 39 fixedly secured thereon and this gear isadapted to mesh with a larger gear 48 (Figure 1) on the end of bottomrear roll 20. Integral with the gear 45 is a smaller gear 42 whichdrives the gear 43 on the end of intermediate bottom rolls 18 throughthe medium of an idler gear 44 (see Figures 1 and 2). During the normaloperation of the machine, that is while the section of yarn I6 ofsmaller diameter is being drawn out, the front rolls are driven directlyfrom the gear I 4 and the shaft i2, and the intermediate and back rollsare driven through the gears and ratchet designated by the referencecharacters 22, 23, 32, 38, 40, 42, 43 and 44.

When it is desired to form an enlargement or slub i611 upon the yarn, itis necessary to speed up the intermediate and back rolls l8 and 25respectively. This is done by the clutch arrangement shown in Figures 1,6 and 7.

It will be noted that the gear 45 also meshes with a pinion 45 which isdisposed on the end of shaft 45. This pinion is loosely mounted on shaft46 and is attached to a clutch face 4? by means of a suitable pin 48(Figure 6), said clutch face also being rotatably mounted around thisshaft. This clutch face has a plurality of cavities 43 therein, each ofwhich contain a spring 55 and a ball 5i. The balls are adapted tocontact an adjacent clutch face 52 which is keyed to the shaft 46 as at53. The purpose of the springs 49 and balls 5! is to normally keep theteeth in the clutch faces 42 and 52 in a disengaged position while thenormal portion of the strand I6 is being manufactured. In other words,the gear 45 and the clutch face 41 is caused to idle on the end of theshaft 46 during the normal operation when the slub I to is not beingformed. Also at the same time, the shaft 45 is rotated in the samedirection and at a faster rate through another train of gears which willbe described later, but due to the fact that the clutch faces are notengaged with each other, no rotation can be imparted to the clutch face4! or to the gear 4-5.

It should be borne in mind, however, that the clutch face 52 is slidablykeyed upon the shaft 46. This clutch face normally assumes the positionshown in Figure 6 at which time its right hand face is abutted againstan enlarged portion 46a of the shaft. This portion has mounted aroundits periphery, a suitable thrust bearing 55 one face of which restsagainst clutch face 52 and its other face rests against a toothedannular member 56. Member 56 is slidably keyed as at 5'! to a hub 58,said hub having a flange 59 which is secured to the end support It) byany suitable means such as bolts 60. Suitable slots 8| are provided inthe flange so that proper adjustment can be made in the event that achange gear is desired to be placed on the end of the shaft 46 insteadof the gear 45 shown.

Disposed adjacent the right-hand toothed face of toothed member 56(Figure 6) is an expander 64, said expander having in one face thereofteeth which are adapted to mesh with the teeth in member 55. Thisexpander also has teeth on its right hand face which intermesh with atoothed member 61 keyed as at 68 to hub 58. The teeth in the members 56,64 and El are beveled so that the expander 64 may be easily rotated tothe left in Figure 1 although the teeth on both sides are inter-engagedwith the teeth in its companion members. When member 54 is rotated asdescribed above the toothed member 56 is moved toward the observer(Figure l) to thereby cause the bearing 55 and the clutch face 52 tomove in the same direction. Upon a slight movement, the teeth in theclutch face 52 will become engaged with the teeth in clutch face 41.When this engagement takes place it is evident that the gear 45 willthen be connected to shaft 46 so that it will rotate at a faster speed.At this time the intermediate and rear rolls will be driven at a fasterspeed through gears 4D, 42, 44 and 43.

During this increased speed of the rear and intermediate rolls, the gear39 and ratchet 32 will also be rotated at an increased speed, but onaccount of the dogs 35 engaging the teeth in the ratchet, this increasedrotation will not affect the rotation of gear 23 which is driven at itsregular rate from the shaft l2.

The shaft 46 has keyed on its right-hand end (Figure 6), a gear 10, saidgear being separated from the flange 58 by means of a thrust bearing H.The gear 10 is driven from the gear [4 through intermediate idler gears12 and 13 (see Figure 1).

As heretofore stated, it is necessary to rotate the expanding-member 64upon the hub 58 when it is desired to cause the rear rolls to rotate atan increased speed. This member is adapted to be rotated to cause thisexpansion to take place, by means of an electro-magnet. The upperportion of the member 64 has an arm 'I'I secured thereto which arm has alink I8 pivoted to its upper end as at I9 (see Figure 2). The right handend of this link is pivoted as at 89 to the lower end of soft ironmember 8|, said member being pivoted as at 82 to the U-shaped member 83.The upper portion of the U-shaped member 83 has a coil 85 mountedtherearound and leading from this coil are wires 86 and 81. When thecoil 85 is energized by electric current the upper end of member 8| isdrawn against U-shaped member 82. In other words, member 8| is rotatedin a clockwise manner in Figure 2 to cause the arm TI and its associatedexpanding. member 94 to rotate in a counterclockwise manner. Thisrotation will cause the two clutch faces 41 and 52 to become engaged andcause the rolls I8 and 29 to speed up to allow a slub to be produced inthe yarn.

The wire 81 as shown in Figure 3 is also connected to one side of amercury tube 99. This tube is; made of a suitable insulation materialsuch as glass and has mercury 9| disposed therein. Leading from thistube is another wire 94 which forms a continuation of wire 81 on thesame side of the circuit. The wires 81 and 94 penetrate the tube 99 atthe terminals 92 and 93. In Figure 3, the tube is shown in the positionwhere the mercury 9| 'will not close the circuit; whereas in Figure 5the tube has been tilted to the position where the circuit between theterminals 92 and 93 is closed. When in a closed position, the magnet 85will be energized and the upper end of the member 8| will be in contactwith one end of the U-shaped member 83.

It is therefore seen that it is necessary to provide some means fortilting this mercury tube at the proper time to cause slub I6a to beformed in the yarn. It is also necessary to provide control means foradjusting the time that the tube will remain tilted and also to providemeans to cause the tube to resume normal position. This tube is mountedon the right-hand end of a suitable lever 98, said lever being pivotedas at 99 to bracket I99. The left-hand end of lever 98 has acounterweight I92 adjustably secured thereon to insure that the leverwill normally return to the position shown in Figure 3 where theterminals 92 and 93 will not be closed by the mercury 9| in the tube.

The lever 98 also has secured intermediate its ends at a pointsubstantially to the left of pivot point 99 a set screw I93, the lowerend of which is adapted to rest upon the upper end of rod I94 (Figures 2and 3). The lower end of this rod penetrates the upstanding leg ofbracket I95. This-bracket has a circular hole I96 cut therein, in which,is mounted a disk I9'I the periphery of which has graduations I98thereon. By observing Figure 4, it is seen that this disk has an annulargroove I99 therein in which the heads of suitable bolts II9 areinserted, said bolts being adapted to adjustably secure cams III to theperiphery of the disk. Also by observing Figure 2, it is seen that theextreme lower end of the rod I93 is beveled, and normally rests upon theperiphery of the disk IN. The purpose of placing the cams or dogs III atspaced intervals along the disks I9! is to provide means for raising therod I94 to cause the lever 98 and the mercury tube 99 to be tilted whenit is necessary, to close I93 as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

the circuit. In the drawings, only-two cams III have been shown.However, it is to be understood that any number could be provideddepending upon the number of slubs IBa. desired in a given length ofyarn. It is evident that the length and shape of the cams or projectionsI I I may be varied to thereby regulate the length of the slubs. Thelength andshape of these portions may also be controlled by means of setscrews I93, because it is evident that the setting of screw I93 willdetermine the interval of time during which electro-magnet 85 will beenergized. The purpose of providing the graduations I98 is to allow theprojections to be spaced at the desired points on the disk to correspondwith the positions that the slubs are to be produced in the strand.

The disk I91 is keyed to a shaft I I5, said shaft having one end thereofrotatably mounted in the upstanding leg of the bracket I (Figure 3) andhaving its other end rotatably mounted in the upper end of a bracketIIB. Bracket III; has its lower end secured to bracket I 95 by anysuitable means such as a bolt II1.

Secured to the shaft H5 is a beveled gear H8 and. this gear has meshingtherewith a pinion I I9 on rod I29. The rod I 29 is journaled in blockI2I which block is supported by bolt I22 and this bolt is adapted topenetrate a slot I23 (see Figure 2) in bracket I24, said bracket havingits outstanding leg resting upon bracket I95. The outstanding leg ofbracket I24 has a slot I 25 therein which is penetrated by a stud boltI26. By providing the slots I23 and I25 (Figures 1 and 2) it is possibleto adjust the right hand end of the rod I29 to the desired height sothat the pinion II!) on the end thereof, will properly mesh with beveledgear II8. This rod is set at an inclined angle and the lower end thereofis journaled in a bracket I28, said bracket I28 having a slot I29 in itslower end which is penetrated by a bolt I39. This bolt projectslaterally from the roll stand support I3I. Likewise this bracket I28 canbe moved up or down to suit conditions.

The rod I29 has a worm gear I34 secured thereon which meshes with wormI35 on shaft I2 (see Figure 8). The gear I34 is removably mounted on theshaft and when it is desired to vary the distance between the slubs itis necessary to remove the gear shown and place a gear of a differentdiameter thereon. When this is done, however, it is necessary to adjustthe position of bracket I28 with respect to bolt I39.

As the lower front roller rotates, the worm I35 is turned to cause thedisk I91 (Figures 2, 3, 4 and 8) to rotate through the members I34, I29,H9, H8 and H5, and of course as this disk rotates the cams III will movebeneath the lower end of rod I94 to cause the mercury tube to be tiltedat specified intervals which, in turn, will cause the back andintermediate rolls to be speeded up to a speed greater than their normalrate of speed and as a result, produce slubs IGa. If desired the size orshape of the projection III may be varied and thereby cause the lengthof the slub to be varied. Also the length of the slub may be varied bymanipulating the screw When this is done, it is seen that the time atwhich mercury tube will be tilted can be varied. v

In the normal spinning of yarn, the roving or strand is very muchlargeras it is drawn from bobbins I38 (Figure 1). This yarn is drawnfrom the bobbins through suitable eyelets I3'I in conventionaltransverse bar I38 and then between the rear, intermediate and frontrolls of the spinning frame at which time a suitable draft is placed inthe yarn. After passing between these rolls the strands are considerablysmaller in diameter. The strands then pass downwardly through an eyeletl38 through a traveller I40 and then onto a bobbin IM. The traveler isadapted to rotate on a suitable ring I42 disposed on ring rail M3.

In the drawings and specification there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for thepurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being set forth inthe appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a spinning frame having front, intermediate and rear rolls, saidfront r011 having an extension at one end thereof, a driven gear fixedlymounted on said extension, a second gear driven by the front roll andhaving a plurality of spring pressed dogs thereon, a ratchet wheelconcentrically mounted with said second gear and having ratchet teeththereon for engagement by said dogs, a pinion integral with said ratchetwheel, a plurality of pinions driven by the pin ion on the ratchet wheelfor driving the rear and intermediate rolls at their normal rates ofspeed, a shaft having a clutch arrangement thereon, means for drivingsaid shaft from the driven gear at an accelerated rate, a third pinionloosely mounted on said shaft and being rotated by said plurality ofpinions at the normal rate, pattern means for actuating said clutcharrangement for connecting said third loose pinion to said shaft tothereby drive said plurality of pinions at an accelerated rate of speedto thereby cause the rear and intermediate rolls to be driven at anaccelerated rate of speed and to also cause the ratchet to rotate at agreater rate of speed than its associated gear and dogs.

2. In a spinning frame having front, intermediate and rear rolls, anextension on the front roll, a plurality of pinions mounted on saidextension, a shaft, an expansion clutch mechanism mounted on said shaftand having a member keyed for sliding movement on said shaft, saidmember having teeth on one side thereof, a second pinion loosely mountedon one end of said shaft and having teeth on one face thereof engageablewith the teeth on said member, a driven connection between the other endof said shaft and said extension on the front roll, and a second drivenconnection between the pinion on said shaft and the rear andintermediate rolls, both of said driven connections being rotated at anaccelerated rate of speed, a third driven connection between saidextension and said intermediate and front rolls, and being driven at anormal rate of speed, an over-riding ratchet mechanism disposed in saidthird driven connection, means for holding the toothed faces on theexpansion clutch mechanism in disengaged position to cause the front andintermediate and rear rolls to be driven at their normal rates of speed,and control means for intermittently expanding said clutch mechanism ;tomove the toothed faces into engagement with each other to cause the rearand intermediate rolls to be driven at an accelerated rate of speed and.to thereby cause an overriding relation to occur in said ratchetmechanism.

3. In a spinning frame having front, top and bottom rolls andintermediate and back top and bottom rolls, the front bottom roll havingan extension on one end thereof, a stud shaft, a sleeve mounted on thestud shaft, a large pinion rotatably mounted on said sleeve, a smallerpinion integral with said sleeve, a ratchet wheel fixed on said sleeve,a plurality of spring-pressed dogs mounted on the larger pinion forengagement with the ratchet wheel, a pinion mounted on each of theextensions on the lower intermediate and back bottom rolls, anadditional pinion on the back bottom roll extension engaging andintermeshing with the smaller pinion on said sleeve, whereby when motionis imparted to the larger pinion on the sleeve in one direction by thedriven bottom front roll, the ratchet wheel and smaller pinion will bedriven by the dogs and rotary motion will be imparted to the bottomrolls, an idler shaft having a pinion rotatably mounted on one endthereof, one side of said last-named pinion having a clutch facethereon, a pinion fixed on the other end of the idler shaft, meansdriven by the front bottom roll for driving the lastnamed pinion, aclutch-faced member keyed for sliding movement on the idler shaft, anannular cam member loosely mounted on said idler shaft, and patterncontrolled means for intermittently moving the annular cam member forengaging the two clutch faces of the idler pinion and the clutch facedmember keyed on the idler shaft for increasing the revolutions perminute of the intermediate and back rolls and also increasing therevolutions per minute of the ratchet wheel to cause it to rotate fasterthan the pinion carrying the dogs.

4. In a spinning frame having front top and bottom rolls andintermediate and back top and bottom rolls, the front bottom roll havingan extension on one end thereof, a stud shaft, a sleeve mounted on thestud shaft, 9, large pinion rotatably mounted on said sleeve, a smallerpinion integral with said sleeve, a ratchet wheel fixed on said sleeve,a plurality of spring-pressed dogs mounted on the larger pinion forengagement with the ratchet wheel, a pinion mounted on each of theextensions on the lower intermediate and back bottom rolls, anadditional pinion on the back bottom roll extension engaging andintermeshing with the smaller pinion on said sleeve,

whereby when motion is imparted to the larger pinion on the sleeve inone direction by the driven bottom front roll, the ratchet wheel andsmaller pinion will be driven by the dogs and rotary motion will beimparted to the bottom rolls, an idler shaft having a pinion rotatablymounted on one end thereof, one side of the said last-named pinionhaving a clutch face thereon, a pinion fixed on the other end of theidler shaft, means driven by the front bottom roll for driving thelastnamed pinion, a clutch-faced member keyed for sliding movement onthe idler shaft, an annular cam member rotatably mounted on the idlershaft, a pattern wheel driven by the bottom front roll, a solenoid,connections between the solenoid and the annular cam member, a switch,means controlled by the pattern wheel for intermittently energizing thesolenoid for swinging the cam member to engage the two clutch faces todrive the intermediate and rear bottom rolls at an increased rate ofspeed.

OSCAR C. WILSON.

